Preaching and Intimacy: Preparing the Message and the Messenger

Intimacy has multiple meanings for preaching. It affirms the crucial role the messenger has in the message. It is the quality that helps to establish a relationship between the hearer and the speaker. It is a "holistic" approach to preaching.

Designed to help both the student and the practicing minister communicate more effectively, Preaching and Intimacy begins with the preacher as a person and moves through the components that are essential to preaching. Attention is given to a minister's relationship with God, his/her feelings about himself/herself, how to imaginatively engage a biblical text, how to think of the listeners, and then how to address and deliver a sermon. Emphasis is put on the preacher's investment in the sermon so that when it is spoken, it is authentic and real.

"It is ambitious, even overreaching, for most ministers to suggest they know how to achieve intimacy through preaching. Anyone who has ever heard him preach, however, knows that does not apply to Chuck Bugg. Bugg is a professor of preaching whose sermons connect with people. Through his sermons people connect with God. In this book preachers are challenged to sense the importance of intimacy in preaching. More important, they will harvest practical tips on how to accomplish it."

— Mike Clingenpeel
Editor, Religious Herald
Richmond, Virginia

Charles B. Bugg is the Kenneth Chafin Professor of Preaching and Director of Chevis Horne Center for Preaching and Worship, Baptist Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia.

Titles of related interest

A Faith to Meet Our Fears	Lingering Grief	Telling Stories